Rex Larsen | The Grand Rapids PressTim Ryan, a Holy Spirit Catholic Church parishioner, packs medications into shipping containers for a mission trip to Haiti he is organizing. GRAND RAPIDS -- For the last decade, Holy Spirit Catholic Church parishioner Tim Ryan has organized a team of doctors and nurses who make annual medical trips to help the impoverished in Haiti.

But after this week's earthquake caused massive destruction and left thousands dead and injured, the local medical team is gearing up for the most gruesome and difficult task they've faced yet.

When they embark on their week-long trip on Jan. 21, the team of about 18 doctors, nurses and lay people likely will be treating those who suffered traumatic injuries.

"We've been exposed to difficult things in our clinic, but it's probably going be a shock to all of us. Lay people like me .... God gives us the strength and we'll handle it," Ryan said.

The group's trip has been planned for months. But because of the disaster, organizers are rushing to get new supplies such as antibiotics, antiseptics and other medications they'll need for the more acute injuries they'll encounter.

They'll also need mosquito nets as they'll have to sleep outdoors.

The Catholic Church, through its Catholic Relief Services, already has committed $5 million for immediate relief efforts and started mobilizing food, emergency shelters and hygiene kits in Haiti. They're also bringing in supplies from the Dominican Republic, said Bishop Walter Hurley, leader of the Grand Rapids diocese.

In a letter this week, Hurley asked all local parishes to take up a special collection for Haiti Earthquake relief efforts.

"It's only in the face of a major disaster that we would make an appeal and this is certainly that. Your heart just goes out to the thousands of people who have died and the thousands of people who've lost so much and who're suffering," Hurley said.

In the diocese, 13 parishes have links to Haitian organizations, he said.

Troy Silvernale, a doctor and the son of missionaries, was born in Haiti and spent most of his childhood there. He and his mother, Beryle Silvernale, a nurse, speak Creole and plan to help the Holy Spirit Church team navigate the area.

Troy Silvernale has traveled before with an aid group to help Haitians, and is ready to go again.

"How can I say no?," he asked. "We're very, very connected to the country. I really wanted to do something and it was a no-brainier. I said of course I would go."

"I'm afraid at the point we're going, one and a half weeks after the quake, we'll probably be encountering a lot of sickness, a lot of infections because of the lack of medical care."

"It's going to be a wide spectrum of medical issues. I'm concerned because a lot of the infections are going to be settling in. Even those injuries that weren't life-threatening, now they will be."

Ryan, who started the organization Haiti Needs You to organize the annual trips, said Holy Spirit "twinned" with a church in Haiti 11 years ago. While other parishes focus on schools and feeding programs, it was medical help their sister church required.

They've sent a team each of the last 10 years, except for one year when safety was an issue.

For those who've been going to Haiti, news of the quake was tough to hear.

"It's like someone stabbed you in the heart. You know these people, and there's so many we haven't heard of. We just heard of one young man that is OK; he's in a refugee camp. They're like your family and then this happens to them.

"It hit pretty hard."

Mary LaPonsie, an accountant and one of the team members, said some of the lay members have given up their seats to allow for additional doctors to join the group.

They were still counting heads to figure out how many people they'll be able to send. The group does have a waiting list of doctors wanting to go, she added.

"Before, we treated them for malnutrition," she said of earlier trips to Haiti. "We did see a lot of bad teeth, scabies and worms," said "We're going to be seeing lacerations, broken bones. It's going to be much more difficult."

Silvernale, who works with Advantage Health Physicians, said other doctors have volunteered to help cover his shifts at the practice so he can go to Haiti.

"It's a team effort. Even if I'm the one going on the plane, it's only possible because there's people who are stepping up here to make it possible."